Indianapolis: Earnhardt Jr - Friday media visit

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., DRIVER OF THE NO.88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY IMPALA
SS met with members of the media at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and
discussed Mark Martin becoming his teammate, the importance of qualifying
at Indy, his past success at...

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., DRIVER OF THE NO.88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY IMPALA
SS met with members of the media at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and
discussed Mark Martin becoming his teammate, the importance of qualifying
at Indy, his past success at Indy and much more.

ON WHAT MARK MARTIN BRINGS TO MOTORSPORTS. "Yeah, Mark's
been around a long time and seen a lot of different things, has a lot of
good knowledge. Personally as a teammate I'm trying to tap into
that as much as I can. I've leaned on him a little bit at times
but he's taught a lot to me on the race track just by being on the
race track with him. Now I'll have a better opportunity to get
with him in conversation for 15, 20 minutes at a time. It will be good
to look at his set-ups; what he likes and see a trend and what works for
him because every driver kind of brings something new to the table, so
it's always good to have that variety."

WHAT CAN HE DO SPECIFICALLY TO PUT THE FIVE CAR BACK IN VICTORY LANE?
"He's just a great race car driver. I think Alan
(Gustafson) is really excited so they'll work great together. He
always seems to be able to get a little extra out of the equipment and if
you can get a little bit extra out of a Hendrick car you should be in
great shape."

ON HIS FANS MAKING THE SWITCH WITH HIM THIS YEAR: "Yeah,
they've been real supportive all year long. They're very
loyal in this sport and they always have been in this sport. I was glad
to see that."

DAYTONA HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THE EARNHARDT FAMILY TRACK. WHEN YOUR
FATHER FIRST CAME HERE THERE'S A STORY ABOUT HIM FIGHTING RUSTY
(WALLACE) TO GET ON THE TRACK FIRST, DID YOU FEEL THE SENSE OF THE
GREATNESS OF THIS PLACE AND WHAT IT MEANT TO YOUR FATHER? "Well
this place survived two world wars and it's been around for a long
time and the history goes far beyond the sport itself and any single
driver, personality. It was really clever for NASCAR to come here in the
first place. It was a great addition to the series. When you look at
the Daytona 500 for being the biggest race of the season, talking about
what follows that and what really is the next act, there's a lot of
different opinions. Indy certainly can be put in that argument now that
it's part of the circuit but I think that the history that the
track has and what has happened here propels it into that position as
being the following act for the Daytona 500, the biggest race of the
season."

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALIFYING: "Qualifying is pretty important
and if you got a good pit crew and a clever crew chief you can have
strategy that gets you up toward the front. Passing is difficult.
It's not a multi-groove race track in the corners so passing is
really difficult. I don't know how the COT will react. If you can
get four tires and be in the top three after the last stop you should be
in good shape."

WITH JEFF'S (GORDON) SUCCESS HERE AT INDY, HAVE YOU TALKED TO HIM
OR GOTTEN ANY ADVICE FROM HIM ABOUT RUNNING HERE? "No, I've
never really asked Jeff about the place. We've run pretty good
here the last couple of years. Had some pretty good cars here and led
some laps. I'm hoping after that tire test that we learned a lot
to take back to our teammates. If we stumble this weekend we can lean on
Jeff or anyone of our teammates whoever seems to be making something
work."

ON THE TIRE TEST AND HOW HE FEELS HIS CAR WILL BE THIS WEEKEND.
"It's good. It is good. I was real surprised when we
showed up for the tire test how close the car was when we rolled off the
trailer and how fast it was compared to the other people here testing
tires. I was real happy with my laps and how the car responded and how
it did over the long run. We seemed to wear the right rear tire out
really, really bad. It will tighten up quite a bit this weekend.
We'll bobble and probably be working to get the car to turn more.
After being loose the entire tire test it will be tight this weekend. I
was glad."

ON IF TONY STEWART HAS AN ADVANTAGE HERE WITH THIS BEING HIS HOME TRACK.
"Home field advantage and being from here and carrying that
confidence in on the weekend can help you. Ever driver has a track that
they really enjoy and look forward to going to. Definitely having that
attitude going into the weekend is a big, big plus so its helps Tony
here. I think it benefits him quite a bit. He does have that edge and
having the pride of Indiana on his side and his past history here."

THEY TALK ABOUT JEFF GORDON AND THEY TALK ABOUT TONY STEWART BUT THEY
KIND OF FORGET TO MENTION THAT YOU'VE DONE VERY WELL AT THIS TRACK:
"Sure. We've run good here and led laps and had great cars.
I'm really excited to get on the track today and see how good our
power plant is down the straightaway, seeing what difference that makes
verses the competition. Seeing how good we can get our car to turn later
on tomorrow before we have to get ready for the race."

ON THE CREW CHIEF CHANGE ON HIS NATIONWIDE SERIES TEAM. "Chad
(Walter) resigned to handle some personal issues and we had to move
forward to get ready and prepare for this weekend. Cam Strader coming
out of his car chief position is going to be an interim crew chief for
sort of a limited trial and hopefully he makes the best of it. I'm
really looking forward to seeing what that team's capable of doing
under the circumstances and adversity that their facing right now.
They're a tough little group and been together for a while.
Cam's a great guy and everybody's going to rally around him
being in the situation and give him a lot of good resources. Tony (Eury)
Sr. and all those guys are there for him to lean on. It was an abrupt
situation this week and we feel like we were able to make the change and
feel confident in the change to be able to get ready for this weekend. I
feel pretty confident in how we sent the team down the road this weekend
and I wish the best for Chad. I hope Chad gets his personal matters
taken care of and can find himself a position in this sport and have a
successful career."